Semcon helping to design the fastest yacht in the world

Semcon's assignment: Helping to design the fastest yacht in the world. Semcon has been selected as the official IT consultant and technology partner for ASSA ABLOY's participation in the Volvo Ocean Race 2001/2002, the world's toughest and longest ocean race. Competitors will spend nine months crossing four oceans and passing five continents. The development of the VO60 yacht is therefore a high-tech project. Extreme conditions and the narrowest margins will test design, IT and technology to the limit. Technical demands become greater every time the competition takes place, as new materials and new technology are developed. Exciting technical challenges The Green Marine shipyard is using Female Mould for the very first time in the construction of ASSA ABLOY Racing Team's VO 60. Two yachts are being built and the fastest will make the starting line at Southampton on 23 September 2001. Several of Semcon's leading technology experts will be involved throughout the entire development and design stage at Green Marine. On site in the UK and at its resource centres in Sweden, Semcon will test, analyse and develop several optimised solutions for systems, design and material selection. The following are four of the most important challenges: · IT and communication system. Semcon will be involved in the development of the yacht's computerised communication system. The crew will be able to send email, photographs and video via satellite to keep the outside world informed of what's happening aboard. Speed, course and payload are just some of the variables that will be tracked in the system to ensure that the crew can act swiftly and efficiently. Semcon is enabling all Internet surfers to simply follow the progress of the boat day by day as it crosses the globe via www.assaabloyracingteam.com · Rig and trim. Carbon fibre is now permitted for use in the mast and boom, and other rule changes mean that larger sails are possible. This will mean a greater load on the rig and trim. The challenge will be to find the optimum solution that can meet all extremes. For Semcon this means a vast amount of calculations and tests that will provide, among other things, the data needed for designing the mast, rig fittings and deck equipment. · Materials. Development of sails and composite materials has advanced strongly in recent years. It is vital that the durability and exhaustion levels of new materials are tested and verified. Semcon's Research & Development department performs the calculations and makes a final evaluation of the new materials. The right combination of materials and manufacturing method is decisive. · Weight optimisation. The competition puts a premium on minimum weight and maximum strength. Semcon must find solutions that keep onboard installations as light as possible. The team has further developed the battery system used by the 1998 EF yacht that made great advances in terms of weight, charging time and durability. The next step was to replace traditional cables with lighter and more user-friendly fibre optics. Finally, a new ballast system was developed that can distribute weight quicker and more efficiently - which is of extra importance in such a light boat. For more information please contact: Lars Idmyr +46 (0) 709 62 88 90 Elisabet Jansson +46 (0) 704 47 29 53 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/02/15/20010215BIT01340/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/02/15/20010215BIT01340/bit0001.pdf